England players congratulate Ryan Hall, left, after his try in the Four Nations clash with New Zealand. Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

England will have another crack at Australia in Saturday's Four Nations final after following Frank Lampard and Co in beating the world champions, in their case New Zealand, with a potent combination of passion and control.

They will inevitably be underdogs in the Elland Road swansong for the great Kangaroo captain Darren Lockyer, but this was one of the most impressive performances by the national team in recent memory, either as England or Great Britain.

"If they go into next weekend's game with that sort of attitude I'm sure they'll challenge," said New Zealand's respected coach Stephen Kearney, probably the most encouraging quote of an intoxicating night in Hull, which proved the perfect stage for such a significant fixture.

Nowhere in the country is the game followed with such fervour than in this city split by Super League rivalry, and for once Hull FC and Hull KR supporters were united in saluting the national team in their first east coast appearance for four years.

They were formidable up front, where the props, James Graham and Jamie Peacock, provided yet another display of their toughness by defying injuries brought into the game and, in Graham's case, augmented by a heavy knock to the head from Thomas Leuluai early on.

Ben Westwood and Jon Wilkin, a local Hull lad who replaced the injured Gareth Ellis in the first team change England have made in the tournament, offered stirring support from the second row, and the hooker James Roby produced another lung-busting display of the qualities that must make him one of the fittest athletes in British sport.

England also had class behind the scrum, where the full-back, Sam Tomkins, was possibly even better than he had been in defeat by Australia last week, and the wings, Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe, each scored a try. Kevin Sinfield kicked impeccably with three of his six goals coming from the touchline, and his half-back partner, Rangi Chase, was inspired rather than intimidated by the challenge of facing his native New Zealand – and even popped into their dressing room to console his compatriots after the game.

"Controlled, measured, efficient, effective," said the England coach, Steve McNamara at the start of his press conference. New Zealand were emphatically none of the above, and occasionally an indisciplined rabble, with Jeremy Smith and Issac Luke put on report and lucky to escape further punishment in the first half, and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves no better after the break.

"England were very disciplined about what was going to work for them and I thought we were the opposite," said Kearney. Benji Marshall, his captain, who was restricted to only the odd moment of his usual brilliance, provided a more distinctively Kiwi analysis. "Tonight we just weren't on it, eh?"

Things may have been different had Tomkins been punished for his one mistake of the night, inside three minutes. His hesitation under a steepling Marshall bomb allowed Kieran Foran to cross for the Kiwis. But Matt Cecchin, the Australian referee, called for video assistance, suspecting that some of their chasers had been offside. The replays confirmed he was right and after that reprieve England dominated the remainder of the first half.

New Zealand did well to restrict them to a single try that was extended to an 8-0 lead by Sinfield's first two touchline goals. It came after 28 minutes and was very much made in Hull, as Wilkin's pass allowed Kirk Yeaman to send his FC wing Tom Briscoe over with a quick, and questionable, pass.

Crucially, the Kiwis were as grubby at the start of the second half as they had been at the end of the first, and that indiscipline handed England the position for a second try, as Hall applied another remarkable finish in the right corner to match the two crackers he scored at Wembley. Sinfield, who had been knighted by the BBC's enthusiastic rugby league convert Clare Balding in a half-time tweet, added another touchline goal to establish breathing space at 14-0.

It was briefly eroded when Jason Nightingale produced an anything-you-can-do response to Hall. Marshall added a Sinfield-style goal, and the lead was down to 14-6.

England did not panic, and when yet another brilliant run by Tomkins forced Marshall into a high tackle, Sinfield banged over his fourth goal to nudge the gap up to 10 points. Graham then crashed over for his first international try since his debut in 2006, and Tomkins gained reward for his efforts with the fifth and last try of an intoxicating team performance. After this, Saturday cannot come soon enough.